Kevin Harvick will start first in Coca-Cola 600

Kevin Harvick is starting first for the second-straight race at Charlotte.

Harvick posted the fastest lap in the third round of Thursday’s qualifying session to take the pole for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. His lap beat that All-Star Race winner Kyle Busch, who will start second in NASCAR’s longest race.

It’s the 20th pole for Harvick and his third of the season. All three have come on 1.5-mile tracks. And while Harvick undoubtedly happy about the qualifying effort, he’s certainly hoping Sunday’s race doesn’t go like the 2016 fall race did. After Harvick started first in October, an engine issue relegated him to a 38th-place finish.

Once again, inspection was a problem for many teams, though only two cars failed to make a lap Thursday — down from 11 at Kansas two weeks ago. Kyle Larson, who hit the wall in practice earlier in the day, and Corey Lajoie were the only drivers who didn’t make a qualifying attempt.